Results of a recent study showed a significant correlation between the increase of acute hepatitis C cases in the U.S. and the country’s current opioid epidemic. Acute HCV and admissions for opioid injection drug use increased significantly among individuals aged 18 years to 39 years, both men and women, and specific ethnicities.“Substantial increases in the number of persons with opioid use disorders who inject drugs have the potential to thwart the nation’s efforts to control morbidity and mortality associated with HCV infection, consequently undermining the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s national strategy for the elimination of hepatitis B and C,” Jon E. Zibbell, PhD, from the Behavioral and Urban Health Program, Georgia, and colleagues wrote. “It also challenges the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Viral Hepatitis Strategic Plan for 2016 to 2020, which underscores reductions in HCV infections caused by [injection drug use] behaviors as a priority area.”Zibbell and colleagues analyzed Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS) admissions from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and laboratory-confirmed cases of acute HCV with associated demographic and risk factors from the National Notifiable Disease Surveillance System.Acute HCVThe researchers found 12,953 acute HCV cases reported between 2004 and 2014 in the U.S. The annual rate increased from 0.3 cases per 100,000 in 2004 to 0.7 cases per 100,000 in 2014 (P < .001) for an overall rate increase of 133%.

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